Bhopal Milk Union Raises Procurement by 38%
The Bhopal Milk Union attributed the rise to higher returns for dairy farmers, assured procurement and expanded collection infrastructure in villages. Chief executive Pritesh Joshi said improved returns were supporting the expansion of the procurement network, while dependable market access was giving farmers greater confidence in cooperative channels.
The Madhya Pradesh Cooperative Dairy Federation has added bulk milk coolers, automated collection units, village dairy centres and milk-testing facilities. These installations bring collection closer to producers and allow milk to be chilled soon after it is received. Automated systems also provide a more structured process for recording supplies and assessing quality.
Transport and testing capacity
The union has introduced 12 milk tankers, a mobile milk-testing laboratory and two electric vehicles for distributing dairy products. The vehicles were flagged off by Meenesh Shah, chairman of the National Dairy Development Board, alongside outgoing federation managing director Sanjay Govani and Joshi.
Each tanker can carry 5,000 litres, giving the union an additional 60,000 litres of transport capacity per trip. The tankers cost approximately ₹3.40 crore in total. Their addition followed the increase in daily procurement and was intended to move milk more quickly from village societies to the processing plant.
The mobile laboratory cost about ₹20 lakh and operates under the “Doodh Ka Doodh, Paani Ka Paani” programme. It can examine milk, curd, paneer, ghee and mawa, as well as detect adulterants including starch, urea, maltose, sucrose and neutralisers. The facility was developed under the central government’s National Programme for Dairy Development, which provided 50% central assistance for the laboratory.
Expansion of the cooperative network
The infrastructure additions cover collection, chilling, testing and transport as procurement expands. A Sanchi Smart Parlour has also opened at Bhopal Dairy, adding a retail facility to the cooperative’s network. At the federation level, daily procurement is now 10.50 lakh kg, compared with 8.73 lakh kg previously.
